Ubuntu 11.10 codenamed Oneiric Ocelot is here making it the 15th release of Ubuntu and taking another step forward in making Ubuntu a better user experience.After integration of Unity in Ubuntu Natty Narwhal this distribution takes another step forward in making Unity a better user experience though some shouting from the Ubuntu Community (but that always occurs 😛 ).In a nutshell this version comes with following changes

Linux Kernel 3 with ARM Support

Improved 32-Bit Compatibility on 64-Bit System

Customizable Login Screen Manager “LightDM”

Improved Ubuntu Unity User Interface along with Compiz

Brand New Ubuntu Software Center

Completely Rewritten Microblogging Platform Gwibber

Thunderbird As Default Email Client replacing Evolution

Déjà Dup For System BackUp

Improved LibreOffice

Other feature for this release include support for GNOME 3 which was kinda freaky in Ubuntu 11.04 , improved Nautilus , better Ubuntu One integration and all this in a smaller DVD (of-course content size is smaller not the DVD). More on that later but first lets install it . . .

INSTALLATION

Like rest of the Ubuntu distributions this too comes with very easy to use installer with no hassles in installation at all.It has been optimized to a great extent effectively taking less than 15 minutes for my machine

TAKING CONTROL ON THE PANEL

Power Menu

Power Applet

If Steve Jobs would’ve been alive he would definitely agree that small things do matter and this is what takes user experience to next level . Like for example this consolidated Power Menu lying on the top right which I’ve started using so ofter that I don’t even need to put few things in my Unity Panel , its just so simple

User Account

Me Menu

On the breeze access to User Accounts lets you switch as well as manage user accounts in a go with just few clicks.

Sound/Volume Control

Volume Applet Wth Banshee Integration

Not major changes here just that Sound Applet comes with better integration of Banshee which too has been upgraded to version 2.2 .

Network Manager

Network Manager Applet

Network Manager has been improved which now boasts of much better support with configuring network devices on the breeze (though there is still some bug while changing network connections for me atleast)

UNITY

Unity Workspace

Unity experience has been improved considerably with Lenses in the dashboard though there are still users not satisfied with the location of Dock Button.Lenses allow you to get more than what you can get out of a text search from dashboard using Scopes (sounds technical right..!!!).In simple words Lenses are something that make things more visible while you perform a search.Here is bit more about Lenses Other noticeable Unity features include better integration with Applications like Drag n Drop into the launcher and improved Alt+Tab switching

Alt Tab

LOGIN MANAGER : LIGHTDM

Login Screen

LightDM is a lightweight display manager that has replaced GDM as default in Ubuntu 11.10 Oneiric Ocelot . It is much lighter than GDM and themeable using HTML, CSS and Javascript making it first choice of users who love playing with their OS.

SOFTWARE CENTER

Ubuntu Software Center aka USC

Ubuntu Software Center(USC) is completely revamped in Ubuntu 11.10 featuring one click installation for almost all the applications.Nautilus has been removed and now USC is solely responsible for Software Management in Ubuntu though you can install Nautilus anytime whenever you want.USC comes with categorization of various applications including the paid ones with previews of Top Rated as well as Newly Added Applications . The new interface looks neat and intuitive though a bit laggy with features to view Installed applications along with your installation history.

MICROBLOGGING

Gwibber Microblogging Client

Gwibber 3.2 is a complete new experience from previous version.It has been rewritten using Vala and GTK3 making it much more faster and lighter consuming less resources (though I personally use Hotot for Twitter and Chrome for Facebook).

BACKUP

Déjà Dup Backup Tool

Déjà Dup has been added to Ubuntu 11.10 as default backup tool with support to upload files directly to the cloud.Lets hope this one gets better .Déjà Dup is a simple backup tool that hides the complexity of backing up and uses duplicity as the backend.

THINGS STILL TO LOOK OUT FOR . . .

Though this is a good package but I’m still missing Native App for Cutomizing Themes and Icons Complete Recovery Solution.Overall I’ll give it 7/10